WordPress Web Development Certificate Program

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
All students who finish this program will receive a signed certificate of completion verifying their participation in the program.
In this certificate program you will learn how to efficiently create custom WordPress themes using industry-standard web development tools, a robust parent theme called WP Jump Start and a variety of labor-saving plugins. This is a 6-day Tuesday program extending over 7 weeks - please see scheduled dates.
Program Description
Learn to build robust, responsive, mobile-friendly, and completely customized WordPress websites in this six-week Certificate Program.
We will use a full-featured WordPress theme (WP Jump Start) that is based on Twitter Bootstrap (the most popular HTML, CSS, and Javascript framework on which to build any type of website, whether it is WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, or static HTML).
You will learn how to build sites start to finish, including how to create a local development environment and deploy to a web server using Desktop Server software (https://serverpress.com/get-desktopserver/).
The WP Jump Start framework comes with an incredibly versatile page/template builder that allows you to create very dynamic and modern-looking websites featuring:
- Full-width content blocks with optional parallax scrolling, background images, sliders, transparency, and more! View details and video demonstration at: https://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-blvd-layout-builder/
- Layout elements including Jumbotron text over a slider, columns, Google maps, pricing charts, progress bars, promotional blocks, calls to action, and much more!
- Shortcodes for components such as accordions, tabbed content, buttons, dividers, columns, alert boxes, icon lists, and much more!
- Options for sticky header, deep footer, and mega menu.
Using a combination of engaging lectures and hands-on coding activities, you will build a fully-functional "Sweet Nothings" candy shop website that takes advantage of all the cool features of this dynamic theme. Click on the thumbnail below to see a preview of the theme you'll build in class.
To see the sophisticated sites others have created with this theme framework, see our Pinterest board.
During and shortly after taking this class, students have created very beautiful websites for clients around the world.
Following the course, you are invited to join a Google Group for ongoing support and attend monthly meetups where past students gather to discuss tools, resources, and strategy as well as collaborate on projects.
Prerequisites
You should have a good understanding of HTML and CSS and solid experience working with the WordPress dashboard (posts, pages, media library, categories, settings, adding plugins and themes). Ideally, you should have some experience customizing WordPress themes for clients and are ready to take your skills and what you can offer to the next level both in terms of efficiency and function as well as modern aesthetic. We highly recommend the following courses to support your getting the most out of this certificate program:
- Web Fundamentals
- Introduction to HTML
- Understanding CSS
- Building Modern Websites with WordPress*
- Responsive Web Design with Bootstrap Hands-On *
Computer Requirement
This is a hands-on class where you'll "learn by doing" - therefore you'll need a computer (Mac or PC). If you need any particular software installed, that will be detailed below. Not all programs require special software so if there isn't any detailed listed below you will only need a computer with an up-to-date web browser.
If you would like to take your class work and sample projects home, please be sure to bring a Mac compatible portable drive with 4GB of free space.
Adobe Creative Cloud
This class will be presented from the latest version of the Adobe Creative Cloud. If you are using your own computer for the class, it is important that you have the latest version installed! Adobe offers a free 7-day trial of the Creative Cloud.
You will be contacted by the instructor before class to schedule a private session to set up your WordPress development environment properly before the first day of class, including how to set up a work environment on your local computer and how to set up a dev environment on a web host and effectively edit and transfer files with minimum fuss.
As noted above, we will use a full-featured WordPress theme (WP Jump Start), and you are responsible for having purchased and installed this on your own computer.
Agenda
Week 1 - Getting Started and Overview
- Setting up an integrated development environment using coding application with built-in FTP
- Creating a local development environment using DesktopServer
- How WordPress works - all about the database and template files
- How child themes and frameworks work
- Adding pages and menus, setting permalink preferences
- Overview of Jump Start theme, child theme, and plugins (including the Template Builder)
Week 2 - Using CSS to Customize Your Theme
- CSS and HTML review and quiz
- How to edit CSS in a child theme
- Using plugins to help manage widget content and styling more effectively
- Loading web fonts like Google Fonts, Typekit, and Fonts.com
- Creating image sprites for website graphics
Week 3 - Working with Post Lists, Grids, and Showcases
- Working with post grids, post lists, and page templates
- Modifying content templates in the child theme
- Understanding Masonry layout, post formats, and archives
- Creating custom page templates
- Defining custom image sizes
Week 4 - Understanding Functions and Hooks
- What is the WordPress functions file
- Introduction to Hooks, Actions, and Filter
- How to Write a Function
- WordPress Action Hooks and Theme Support
- WordPress Filter Hooks
- Theme Blvd Action Hooks and Filter Hooks
- Adding custom styles to the Visual Editor
- Creating your own icon font and ensuing a stylesheet for it
- Creating your own template parts
- Working with the Twitter Bootstrap 12-column and 10-column grids
- Defining widget locations
Week 5 - Understanding Image Sizes and Responsive CSS
- How are image sizes generated in WordPress
- Managing and defining image sizes
- Lightbox integration
- Understanding the new responsive WordPress image src set
- How responsive layouts work
- Understanding @media queries
- Changing responsive menu toggle
- Bootstrap grid and utility classes
Week 6 - Going Live, Troubleshooting, and Best Practices
- Hosting considerations
- Migrating from localhost to server
- How to make a local copy of a site
- Mapping the local path to server path in coding application
- Validation and Browser Bugs
- Troubleshooting and identifying PHP errors
- Go Live Checklist
- Updating safely
- Maintenance checklist
- Helpful development tools
Instructor
Angela Bowman of MoonGooseDesigns.com and AskWPGirl.com has been involved with internet technologies since 1996 when she became a member of the online tech support team at Quark, Inc. After learning about WordPress at BDA, she became a full-time WordPress guru, serving individuals and small- to medium-size organizations. She stretches the boundaries of WordPress by making extensive use of its built-in features combined with judicious use of plugins and creative CSS. Angela will help you think outside the blog box by helping you understand the nuts and bolts of WordPress and to endlessly customize your WP themes.
Location
This certificate program will be held in the Boulder Digital Arts Boulder location classroom.
BDA Members
Non-Members
Registration:
BDA Members: $1,199.00
Non-Members: $1,299.00
Available Dates
Sorry, we don't have this event scheduled right now but we'll probably be adding it again soon! If you're interested in this event, we recommend using our follow feature to be notified the next time we add it to our schedule. You can also email us to request that we add it soon.
Customer Comments
This class gave me a quantum leap into the world of WordPress customization. I am so much improved at my customization skills now then when I began, and it feels so good. Angela provides a wealth of information and I often refer to her online documentation that is, as well, filled with useful snippets and wise counsel. If you are curious about how you might find your WordPress niche and gain experience with a flexible WordPress theme, 'WPJumpstart with Angela Bowman' is for you!ZoeRead All Comments